A former immigration detainee will sue the Commonwealth for false imprisonment after being released from detention following a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
The Iranian man, 46, was in prison and held for 18 months because he could not be deported to his country of origin after serving time in prison.
Just days after the federal budget was adopted, a writ was filed in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, awarding the government $5.6 million to cover legal costs arising from the Supreme Court’s decision.
Solicitor General Stephen Donaghue said if indefinite detention were declared unlawful, lawsuits against detainees would be inevitable.
A former immigration detainee will sue the Commonwealth for false imprisonment (photo, Villawood Immigration Detention Centre)
The issue has become a burden on the federal government, which has come under increased scrutiny after one of the inmates released after the Supreme Court ruling was involved in a violent home invasion.
Kuwaiti-born Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, 43, was recently charged for his alleged involvement in the brutal bashing and burglary of an elderly Perth couple, Ninette and Philip Simons.
Mr Jamshidi Doukoshkan has been taken into custody and is due to appear in court again in June for a series of offenses arising from the incident.
The 43-year-old was also accused of breaching his curfew – one of the strict visa conditions imposed on the cohort was that he was not wearing an ankle monitor at the time.
Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan (pictured) was among the immigration detainees released from detention following the Supreme Court’s ruling on NZYQ. He’s not the man to sue the Commonwealth